"Rex, I'm placing a #4 stopper, over" "Roger that Stan, standing-by for nut placement" "On second thought, I might try the #5" "Roger that, commencing #5 placement, standing-by" "Ok, the nut is in place, going for the clip" "Roger that, which draw are you using?" "Not sure, stand-by for that" "Standing-by" "I've used the 5" blue draw" "Wouldn't the 6" red draw be a better choice?" "Roger that, what was I thinking? Damn I'm glad we have these life-saving radios!"

Hi, davidbr - This is Phil Sidel from The Explorers Club of Pittsburgh. We had a bunch of people (about a dozen climbing teams) down at Seneca last weekend, and I believe someone from one team (I think it was Bill Forrester's team, but am not sure) mentioned dropping a radio. I will notify the group, and hopefully the person who dropped or owned the radio will get in touch with you.

Interesting that the idea of using radios generates so much humor. I think it has caught on quite widely at Seneca - the number of shouted commands and communications we hear is much reduced. That is a nice result, as is the greater certainty of hearing communications correctly - that used to be rather chancy in the pre-FRS days. Of course, it doesn't work if the radio is dropped. We'll have to tell people about clipping everything to themselves; that way you keep your gear and you don't kill someone below you.

Yeah, I met a few of the Pittsburgh crowd last weekend. Hope you had a good time.

Let me know if the radio turns out to be from someone in your group. I don't think it actually got dropped - it was sitting up and it looked like the second had just climbed off without it. The batteries seem to be dead, however.

If it's from one of your group, I could post it to you, or I may be back in Seneca in the next short while - we'll work out some sort of handover.